Abstract:
The mounting pressure against synthetic fungicidal dips and sprays, restrict their use in
controlling crown rot, a major post-harvest disease in banana. Generally regarded as safe (GRAS)
compounds have a great potential to be used as alternatives to fungicides. Identification of
chemical constituents of Cymbopogon citratus oil revealed the presence of citral as the main
component. Cymbopogon citratus and citral with sodium bicarbonate (SBC) was fungicidal
against the 3 banana fungal pathogens at 0.10-0.20 % v/v and 0.07-0.08 % v/v respectively.
Embul banana sprayed with C. citratus alone or in combination with SBC after induced ripening,
indicated a crown rot severity of 25 - 50% whereas, citral treatment resulted in a slightly lower
disease severity. The physico-chemical parameters tested were not affected by the treatments.
Oil/citral, SBC treated bananas and control were ranked good to excellent with respect to odour,
flavour, taste and overall acceptability. The low disease severity of crown rot due to spray
treatment of citral and SBC highlights the importance in adapting this simple, alternate treatment
strategy for quality maintenance.
